Mr. Symonenko was a candidate in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, nominated by the Communist Party of Ukraine. Party member since 1978, and party chairman since 1993.
He is a Ukrainian delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. From 1994 to 1996 he was a member of the Ukrainian parliament's Constitution Commission.
A presidential candidate in 1999, when he got 22.24% of the votes in the first round, finishing in second place. In the second round he won 37.8% of the votes when losing to Leonid Kuchma. His election program has classic communist leader content.
The presidential election, a dramatic parliamentary crisis, and a controver-sial constitutional referendum have shaken the Ukrainian political scene.
In the election's first round of voting for the presidency on October 31, 1999, incumbent Leonid Kuchma received 36 percent of the vote, while his main rival, PetroSimonenko, of the Communist Party (CP), garnered 22 percent.
On December 15, PetroSimonenko appealed to parlia-ment, demanding it launch impeachment proceedings against Kuchma and declaring the decree an "act of national treason." On December 16, representatives of the leftist factions threatened to boycott parliamentary sessions unless a discussion of the decree was included in the parliamentary agenda.
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